Man dies in fall from Angeleno Heights building*

A 45-year-old man fell to his death this morning as he tried to lower himself down the side of a four-story Angeleno Heights apartment building and reach the window of a tenant with whom he had been involved with in a relationship, police said. Officers and paramedics were called to the brick building at 1324 Calumet Avenue at about 7:30 a.m. after the body of the victim was found dangling upside down from a fence between the apartment and a neighboring house. There was no sign of a struggle and the death is considered an accident based on preliminary findings, said Lt. Wes Buhrmester with the Rampart Division. Buhrmester provided more details of the incident in a comment to this post:

The decedent took a fire hose from the interior of the building, removed it from its fitting and took it to the roof. There, he tied one end to a fixed object and threw the other end over the side. He then used it to either lower himself or rappel down the building, presumably to contact the person he knew, through their window. It is believed he fell to his death shortly afterward.

The victim, who lived in Hollywood, “suffered significant visible trauma to his head and arms” and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Some neighbors said the victim and the person he was trying to reach were no longer romantically involved.

The body was discovered by one of the neighbors, a woman named Benny, who was watering her plants when she heard a cough and then saw the body of the victim hanging upside down on the fence separating her home and the apartment buildings. “That’s when I said ‘Oh, no.”

The coroner’s office will conduct an autopsy, including toxicology, and homicide detectives will also follow up on the incident, Buhrmester said. The decedent’s name has not been released, as next of kin have not yet been found.

10 comments

After investigation by both LAPD and the coroner’s office, this is being preliminarily ruled an accidental death. At about 7:30 a.m., officers responded to the apartment building in response to a call of a possible dead body. On arrival, they found the decedent, a 45-year-old Hollywood resident, dead on the walkway to the east of the building. He suffered significant visible trauma to his head and arms, and paramedics pronounced him deceased.

The investigation revealed that the subject had been involved in a relationship with a resident on the top floor of the building. The decedent took a fire hose from the interior of the building, removed it from its fitting and took it to the roof. There, he tied one end to a fixed object and threw the other end over the side. He then used it to either lower himself or rappel down the building, presumably to contact the person he knew, through their window. It is believed he fell to his death shortly afterward.

Officers canvassed the building, and found no one who heard any argument, struggle or commotion. The person believed to have been the one the decedent tried to contact was interviewed. Their statement was credible, and there was no indication they were involved in a struggle, nor was there evidence they opened the window and pushed the decedent. The coroner’s office will conduct an autopsy, including toxicology, and our homicide detectives will also follow up on the incident. The decedent’s name has not been released, as next of kin have not yet been found.

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